Astroblog

Obscured by Clouds. The rough and ready blog of a cloud benighted biologist and amateur astronomer. Astroblog will cover my interests in astronomy, biology and Life, the Universe and Everything.

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

The Sky This Week - Thursday December 29 to Thursday January 5

The New Moon is Thursday December 29. Perihelion is January 4. Venus
is prominent in the
evening sky in the star poor regions of Capricornius. Mars is just above
Venus and extremely close to Neptune. The crescent Moon is close to Venus on the 2nd and Mars on the 3rd. Jupiter and the bright star Spica are
close in the morning
skies. Saturn is low
in the morning skies on the 28th. Comet 45P is a telescope object in
the early evening skies.

The New Moon is Thursday December 29. Earth is at perihelion, when it is closest to the Sun, on January 4

Evening sky on Sunday January 1 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
21:38 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset). Venus and (now dim) Mars form a line with Comet 45P (visible in telesciopes) and Neptune (visible in binoculars and telescopes) with the thin crescent Moon nearby. Neptune is closest to Mars at this time. The inset is a simulation of the view with a 12 mm eyepiece with a Newtonian telescope.

Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time.
(click
to embiggen).

Venus
is high in the
dusk sky and intensely bright. It can be seen easily from somewhat
before half an hour after sunset to two hours after sunset. It
stays dazzlingly brilliant above the horizon in truly dark
skies well into the evening. Venus has been mistaken for flares or
landing aeroplanes it is so bright now.

Venus is in a very star poor field.On January 2 it is close to the thin Crescent Moon. Venus
is a distinct "half Moon" shape in telescopes.

Evening sky on Monday January 2 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
21:38 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset). Venus is close to the thin crescent Moon. Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time.
(click
to embiggen).

Mars
is in the western evening skies in Aquarius. Mars remains in a star
poor area, but is coming closer to Neptune for a close approach on the
31st and 1 January. Mars is in the same binocular field as
Neptune (which will look like a colourless dot) for most of the week. You will need good
binoculars (at least 10x50's under dark skies to pick up Neptune.

However on the 31st and 1st Neptune and Mars are close enough to see together in telescopes. On the 1st Mercury and Mars 7 arc minutes apart, are close enough to be seen in high power eyepieces, which will show the disk of Mars and (just) the disk of Neptune. Worth a look.

Mars was at opposition on May 22, and is still visibly dimming. While
still brighter than any of the nearby stars, it is much faded and not
immediately obvious, It is
no longer a modest telescope object. Mars is visible most of the evening
setting before midnight. In small telescopes Mars will be a
visible, but tiny, gibbous disk, however you are unlikely to see its
markings.

Black and white binocular chart suitable for printing, showing a higher
power view of the area around comet 45P from 22 December to 21 January. Use in conjunction with the sky chart above. The circle is the field of view of 10x50 binoculars.
Click to embiggen and print.

Comet 45P is around magnitude 8, bright enough to be theoretically seen in binoculars, however, it is very low to the horizon at astronomical twilight, and there is a very narrow window for observing it. It will look like a fuzzy dot in binoculars and small telescopes. The comet is not far from theta Capricornii, and the only fuzzy object in this area.

Morning sky on Wednesday January 4
looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 4:59 ACDST (just an hour before sunrise). Jupiter is now
high above the horizon and is in dark skies well before dawn.
It is close to the bright star Spica. Saturn is just peeking above the horizon at this
time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiterrises
even higher into the morning skies this week. It is now well above the
eastern horizon and is easy to see as the brightest object above the
eastern horizon from around an hour and a half before
sunrise. It is coming closer to the bright star Spica. It is now high enough to be a good telescopic target, and the dance of its Moons is visible even in binoculars..

Saturn rises higher in the morning twilight this week. Saturn is low to the
horizon, and you will need a level, unobstructed eastern horizon to see
it. Although by the end of the week is is easier to see.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Comet 45P Brightens Close to the Horizon.

Location of comet 45P. Evening sky on Saturday December 24 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
21:38 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset). Venus and (now dim) Mars form a
line with (binocular only) comet 45P and Neptune. Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time.
(click
to embiggen).

Black and white binocular chart suitable for printing, showing a higher power view of the area around comet 45P from 22 December to 21 January. Use in conjunction with the sky chart above. The circle is the field of view of 10x50 binoculars. Click to embiggen and print.

Comet 45P
is around magnitude 8, bright enough to be theoretically seen in
binoculars from dark sky sites, however, it is very low to the horizon at astronomical
twilight, just a hand span (six degrees) and there is a very narrow window for observing it before it is too low to image or see through the horizon murk. It will
look like a fuzzy dot in binoculars and small telescopes. In astroimages a nice tail can be seen.

The comet is brightening and is almost midway between psi and beta Capricornii at the moment, a line drawn through Venus and Mars points to it(see printable chart above). During the next week it heads towards theta Capricornii and should reach magnitude 7, but becomes too close to the horizon at astronomical twilight (an hour and a half after sunset) to observe.

Southern Skywatch December, 2016 edition is now out!

Evening sky on Saturday December 24 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
21:38 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset). Venus and (now dim) Mars form a
line with (binocular only) comet 45P and Neptune. Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time.
(click
to embiggen).

Astrophiz Podcast 23 is Out

Feature Interview: Daniel Bamberger
& Guy Wells, who have set up the rapidly expanding and recognised
Northolt Branch Observatory, explain how they image and verify orbits of
asteroids and other NEOs. (Near earth Objects)

“What”s
Up in the Sky this Week”: The planets of the morning
sky, the evening sky and the Geminids meteor shower under a full moon.

In the News:1.
The Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR), the antennas are receiving radio
signals that have travelled billions of years to get here, from the
depths of the cosmos. 2. Another citizen science project turns up
remarkable pulsar science via the einstein@home project.
3. Daniel
Ung, a Masters student at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, has
won the 2016 FEKO Student Competition, with implications for SKA and the
MWA, the Murchison Widefield Array.

Bright ISS Passes for Christmas (23-28 December, 2016)

The ISS passes near Jupiter Spica and the Moon as seen from
Adelaide on the morning of Sunday 25 December at 04:55 ACDST. Simulated
in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

The ISS passes above bright Sirius as seen from Melbourne on the morning of Sunday 25 December at
05:25 AEDST. Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

The ISS passes close to the crescent Moon as seen from Perth on the morning of Sunday 25 December at 03:59 AWST.
Simulated in Stellarium (the ISS 0will actually be a
bright dot), click to embiggen.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Sunday 25 December
for Adelaide.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Sunday 25 December
for Melbourne.

All sky chart showing local times from Heavens Above for Sunday 25 December
for Perth.

This week see the start of another series of bright International Space Station passes.

For most of Australia Christmas is made doubly special by a visit
from the International Space Station on both Christmas morning (for those getting up early to see what is under the Christmas tree) and Christmas evening. From some sites the ISS will pass
very close to Venus or directly overhead in the evening, from others close to Jupiter or the Moon in the morning. There are also some
nice passes close to the pointers and Crux, as well as Sirius and Betelguese.

When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use either Heavens Above or CalSky
to get site specific predictions for your location, a small
difference in location can mean the difference between the ISS passing
over Venus (or Saturn) and missing it completely.

Start looking several minutes before the pass is going to start to get
yourself oriented and your eyes dark adapted. Be patient, there may be
slight differences in the time of the ISS appearing due to orbit changes
not picked up by the predictions. Use the most recent prediction for your site.

The Sky This Week - Thursday December 22 to Thursday December 29

The New Moon is Thursday December 29. Bright ISS pases for Christmas! Venus
is prominent in the
evening sky in the star poor regions of Capricornius. Mars is just above
Venus coming close to Neptune. Jupiter and the bright star Spica are close in the morning
skies and visited by the Moon on the 23rd. Saturn and the Moon are close in the morning skies on the 28th. Comet 45P is a telescope object in the early evening skies.

The New Moon is Thursday December 29. The Moon is at apogee, when it is furthest from the Earth, on the 25th.

Evening sky on Saturday December 24 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
21:38 ACDST (60 minutes after sunset). Venus and (now dim) Mars form a line with (binocular only) comet 45P and Neptune. Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time.
(click
to embiggen).

Venus
is high in the
dusk sky and intensely bright. It can be seen easily from somewhat
before half an hour after sunset to over two hours after sunset. It
stays dazzlingly brilliant above the horizon in truly dark
skies well into the evening. Venus has been mistaken for flares or
landing aeroplanes it is so bright now.

Venus is in a very star poor field, but on the 28th it is close to the bright star Deneb Algedi.
Venus
is a distinct "half Moon" shape in telescopes.

Mars
is in the western evening skies in Aquarius. Mars remains in a star poor area, but is coming closer to Neptune for a close approach on the 31st and 1 January. From the 25th Mars is in the same binocular field as Neptune (which will look like a colourless dot). You will need good binoculars (at least 10x50's under dark skies to pick up Neptune.

Mars was at opposition on May 22, and is still visibly dimming. While
still brighter than any of the nearby stars, it is much faded and not
immediately obvious, It is
no longer a modest telescope object. Mars is visible most of the evening setting before midnight. In small telescopes Mars will be a
visible, but tiny, gibbous disk, however you are unlikely to see its
markings.

Black and white binocular chart suitable for printing, showing a higher
power view of the area around comet 45P from 22 December to 21 January.
Use in conjunction with the sky chart above. The circle is the field of
view of 10x50 binoculars.
Click to embiggen and print.

Comet 45P
is around magnitude 8, bright enough to be theoretically seen in
binoculars, however, it is very low to the horizon at astronomical
twilight, and there is a very narrow window for observing it. It will
look like a fuzzy dot in binoculars and small telescopes. The comet is
not far from beta Capricornii, and the only fuzzy object in this area.

Morning sky on Sunday December 25
looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 4:55 ACDST. The International Space Station shoots between the Southern Cross and the pointers, the comes close to Jupiter. (click
to embiggen).

The International Space Station makes a series of bright passes in the morning and evening, starting from the 23rd. Those who are up early to see what Santa has brought on the 25th can see a stunning morning pass near Jupiter, and in the evening there will be a brilliant pass going across the zenith from many places in Australia.

When and what you will see is VERY location dependent, so you need to use either Heavens Above or CalSky
to get site specific predictions for your location. For more details see this post.

Morning sky on Friday December 23
looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 4:53 ACDST (just an hour before sunrise). Jupiter is now high above the horizon and is in dark skies well before dawn.
It is close to the bright star Spica and close to the Moon at this time. Similar views ill be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiterrises
even higher into the morning skies this week. It is now well above the
eastern horizon and is easy to see as the brightest object above the
eastern horizon from around an hour and a half before
sunrise. It is coming closer to the bright star Spica, and is close to the crescent Moon on the 23rd.

Morning sky on Wednesday December 28
looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 5:33 ACDST (half an hour before sunrise). Saturn is just above the horizon, and just above the thin crescent Moon.Similar views ill be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time. (click
to embiggen).

Saturn returns to the morning twilight this week. Saturn is low to the horizon, and you will need a level, unobstructed eastern horizon to see it. Saturn is near the crescent Moon on the 28th.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Astrophiz Podcast 22 is Out

The Parkes ‘Dish’ interrogates pulsars to expose gravity waves. We
interview Operations Scientist John Sarkissian at the CSIRO Parkes Radio
Observatory. He explains how the ‘Spider Dipoles’ that make up the
Murchison Widefield Array in remote Western Australia contribute to SKA,
how Parkes chase down gravity waves and has detected most of the
world’s FRBs (fast radio bursts of unknown origin), after being
distracted by ‘perytons’ and microwave ovens. And yes, ‘The Dish’ is
searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence in the international SETI
‘Breakthrough Listen’ project. We’re not saying they’re searching for
Aliens ….. but Aliens!

Dr Nadeshzda in Part I of Stellar Evolution
explains how the mass of a star determines its evolutionary path, and
next week we will look at the Hetsprung-Russell Diagram

“What”s Up
in the Sky this Week” for Northern Hemisphere observers and
astrophotographers, and for Southern Hemisphere Listeners, December is
the best time to see the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic
Cloud. We also expose Procyon and curse the moon for demolishing the
Geminids Meteor Shower.

In the News:
1. The Spiderweb galaxy 2.
Imaging a Black Hole Event Horizon 3. ICRAR tells us the Universe is
slowly becoming less energetic (Well, who isn’t ;)

The Sky This Week - Thursday December 15 to Thursday December 22

The Last Quarter Moon is Wednesday December 21, summer solstice. Mercury sinks toward the horizon.Venus
is prominent in the
evening sky in the star poor regions of Capricornius. Mars is just above
Venus. Jupiter and the bright star Spica are close in the morning
skies.

The Last Quarter Moon is Wednesday December 21. Earth is at solstice, when the days are longest, on the 21st as well.

Evening sky on Saturday December 17 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
21:00 ACDST (30 minutes after sunset). Mercury, Venus and (now dim) Mars form a line. Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time.
(click
to embiggen).

Mercury sinks lower in the evening twilight.
It is visible above the western horizon from 30 minutes after
sunset until a bit over an hour after sunset.

Mercury is near the bright star Nunki in
the teapot's handle at the beginning of the week, then draws away as it heads to the horizon.

Venus
is high in the
dusk sky and intensely bright. It can be seen easily from somewhat
before half an hour after sunset to over two hours after sunset. It
stays dazzlingly brilliant above the horizon in truly dark
skies well into the evening. Venus has been mistaken for flares or
landing aeroplanes it is so bright now.

Venus is in a very star poor field, and does not come close to anything interesting this week.
Venus
is a distinct "half Moon" shape in telescopes.

Evening sky on Saturday December 17 looking west as seen from
Adelaide at 22:00 ACDST, shortly before full dark has fallen. Mars is in Caprciornius with Venus below above the western horizon.
Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Mars
is in the western evening skies in Capricornius, heading towards Aquarius. Mars remains in a star poor area.

Mars was at opposition on May 22, and is still visibly dimming. While
still brighter than any of the nearby stars, it is much faded and not
immediately obvious, It is
no longer a modest telescope object. Mars is visible most of the evening
setting before midnight. In small telescopes Mars will be a
visible, but tiny, gibbous disk, however you are unlikely to see its
markings.

Morning sky on Sunday December 18
looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 5:00 ACDST (just under an hour before sunrise). Jupiter is now
reasonably high above the horizon and is in dark skies well before dawn.
Similar views ill be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent
local time. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiterrises higher into the morning skies this week. It is now well above the eastern horizon and is easy to see as the brightest object above the eastern horizon from around an hour and a half before
sunrise.

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Mercury, Venus and Mars (12 December 2016)

Mercury, Venus and Mars all in a line in the evening twilight of 12 December at 21:15 ACDST. Stack 0f 10x 2 second images Canon IXUS 400 ASA. Click to embiggen to see the planets more clearly.

Same as before but now labelled. The stars Nunki in Sagittarius and Deneb Algedi in Capriconius are labelled too. The inset shows a closeup of the region around Mercury.

Mercury, Venus and Mars have been forming a nice line-up during the past two weeks. Unfortunately cloud or lack of a camera have kept me from capturing it until tonight. Despite cloud Mercury was clearly visible.

Like Venus and Mars before it, Mercury is travelling through the "teapot" of Sagittarius. At the moment it is close to Nunki in the handle of the "teapot".Mars is close to delta Capricornii, Deneb Algedi. The line-up looks very nice, hopefully I can get a shot sans clouds when Nunki and Mercury are at their closest.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Geminid Meteor shower, 14 December 2016

The northern horizon at 4:00 am ACDST as seen from Southern Australia
(northern Australia is similar but Gemini and the radiant is higher in
the sky) on Wednesday December 14. The Geminid radiant is marked with a starburst. Similar views
will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

The Geminids are a fairly reliable meteor shower but this year moonlight will significantly interfere. Normally there is also good activity either side of the peak, but this year moonlight interference means that rates in Australia will be negligible outside the peak.

The radiant doesn't rise until just
before midnight (daylight saving time) in most of Australia, so you will
still have to disturb your sleep for this one. Australians should see
a meteor every four to six minutes under dark skies in the early
morning of the 14th, between 1:00 am and 4:00 am local time. As well, the more light pollution (the closer you are to the city) , the fewer
meteors you see.

At
1.00 am in the morning AEDST (midnight, AEST) Castor (alpha Geminorum)
is about two hand-spans above the horizon and 10 hand-spans to the right
of
due north. Pollux, the other twin, is less than a hand-span to the
right
again. The radiant is just below Pollux. However, the radiant is low at
this time and you will see very few meteors until around 3:30-4 am
(daylight savings time).

Unfortunately, the Full Moon is
very near the radiant, and you will have to block it out with a
building or tree to keep some night vision, but even then you will see
only a few of the brighter meteors as the Moonlight drowns the rest out.

When looking, be sure to let your eyes adjust for at least
5 minutes so your eyes can be properly adapted to the dark. Don't look
directly at the radiant site, because the meteors will often start their
"burn" some distance from it, but around a hand-span up or to the side.
Be patient, although you should see an average of
a meteor every two minutes, a whole stretch of time can go by without
a meteor, then a whole bunch turn up one after the other.

Make
yourself comfortable, choose an observing site that has little to
obstruct the northern horizon (although you will need something to block out the Moon to preserve your night vision), have a comfortable chair to sit in (a
banana lounger is best), or blankets and pillows. A hot Thermos of
something to drink and plenty of mosquito protection will complete your
observing preparations.

You can
find predictions for your local site at the meteor flux estimator (choose 4 Geminids and date 13-14 December, don't forget to change the date to 2016). You can follow world wide Geminid counts at the IMO live Geminid site.While there are few meteors this year, Orion and the
Hyades will be visible and bright Jupiter will be above the eastern horizon. So it will be a
quite nice morning for sky watching. Keep an eye out for satellites (see Heavens Above
for predictions from your site)!Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Aurora Watch and Geomagnetic Warning (8-9 December 2016)

The Australian Space Weather Service (SWS ) has issued an Aurora Watch and a Geomagnetic Warning for 8-9 December from a high speed solar wind stream from a
large coronal hole. Evening skies have the Last Quarter Moon visible all evening
setting in the morning. This will not interfere too much with aurora
visibility. It is possible aurora may be seen in Tasmania and Victoria if
storms eventuate. G1 storm conditions have been predicted, (see also the NOAA site) most probably around
midnight but we have been surprised with early evening aurora before. However,
conditions are expected to fluctuate rapidly through the evening so there may be
several bursts of short lived aurora.

Dark sky sites have the best chance
of seeing anything, and always allow around 5 minutes for your eyes to become
dark adapted.

As always look to the south for shifting red/green glows, beams
have been reported consistently over the last few aurora, as well as bright
proton arcs and "picket fences".

High speed wind
streams from a southern hemisphere coronal hole areexpected to impact the
Earth within the next 24 - 48 hours, possiblyresulting in significant space
weather activity. Auroras may bevisible on the local nights of 8 and 9
December in Tasmania andpossibly the coastline of Victoria. Aurora alerts
will follow shouldfavourable space weather activity
eventuate.

The Sky This Week - Thursday December 8 to Thursday December 15

The Full Moon is Wednesday December 14. Mercury passes some bright stars and is highest in the evening sky on the 11th.Venus
is prominent in the
evening sky in the star poor regions of Capricornius. Mars is just above Venus. Jupiter and the bright star Spica are close in the morning skies. The Geminids meteor shower peaks on the morning of the 14th.

The Full Moon is Wednesday December 14. The Moon is at perigee (closest to the Earth) on Tuesday the 13th.

Evening sky on Saturday December 10 looking west as seen from Adelaide
at
21:09 ACDST (45 minutes after sunset). Mercury, Venus and (now dim) Mars form a line. Similar
views will be seen throughout Australia at the equivalent local time.
(click
to embiggen).

Mercury rises higher in the evening twilight and reaches its highest distance above the horizon on the 11th, after this it heads back towards the horizon. It is now easily visible above the western horizon from 30 minutes after sunset.

Mercury is close to the bright star Kaus Borealis, the "lid" of the teapot of Sagittarius on the 8th, and is near the bright star Nunki in the teapot's handle between the 12th-14th.

Venus is high in the
dusk sky and intensely bright. It can be seen easily from somewhat before half an hour after sunset to over two hours after sunset. It stays dazzlingly brilliant above the horizon in truly dark
skies well into the evening. Venus has been mistaken for flares or landing aeroplanes it is so bright now.

Venus is in a very star poor field, and does not come close to anything interesting this week.
Venus
is a distinct "half Moon" shape in telescopes.

Evening sky on Saturday December 10 looking west as seen from
Adelaide at 22:00 ACDST, when full dark has fallen. Mars is in Caprciornius with Venus below above the western horizon.
Similar views
will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Mars
is in the western evening skies in Capricornius. During
the week Mars moves further through the star poor regions of
Capricornius. During the week Mars passes close to first gamma, then delta Cacriornii. Two of the brighter stars in Capricornius.

Mars was at opposition on May 22, and is still visibly dimming. While still brighter than any of the nearby stars, it is much faded and not immediately obvious, It is
no longer a modest telescope object. Mars is visible most of the evening
setting before midnight. In small telescopes Mars will be a
visible, but tiny, gibbous disk, however you are unlikely to see its
markings.

Morning sky on Sunday December 11 looking east as seen from
Adelaide at 4:49 ACDST (an hour before sunrise). Jupiter is now reasonably high above the horizon and is in dark skies well before dawn. Similar views ill be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

Jupiterrises higher into the morning skies this week. Jupiter eastern horizon to see it around an hour before
sunrise, but it should be reasonably easy to see by the time of civil twilight half an hour before sunrise.

The northern horizon at 4:00 am ACDST as seen from Southern Australia
(northern Australia is similar but Gemini and the radiant is higher in
the sky) on Wednesday December 14. The Geminid radiant is marked with a starburst . Similar views
will
be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time. (click
to embiggen).

The Geminids are a fairly reliable meteor shower but this
year moonlight will significantly interfere.

The radiant doesn't rise until just
before midnight (daylight saving time) in most of Australia, so you will
still have to disturb your sleep for this one. Australians should see
a meteor every four to six minutes under dark skies in the early
morning of the 14th, between 1:00 am and 4:00 am local time. You can
find predictions for your local site at the meteor flux estimator (choose 4 Geminids and date 13-14 December, don't forget to change the date to 2016).

At
1.00 am in the morning AEDST (midnight, AEST) Castor (alpha Geminorum)
is about two hand-spans above the horizon and 10 hand-spans to the right of
due north. Pollux, the other twin, is less than a hand-span to the right
again. The radiant is just below Pollux. Unfortunately, the Full Moon is very near the radiant, and you will have to block it out with a building or tree to keep some night vision, but even then you will see only a few of the brighter meteors as the Moonlight drowns the rest out.

However, Orion and the
Hyades will be visible and bright Jupiter will be above the eastern horizon. So it will be a
quite nice morning for sky watching. Keep an eye out for satellites!

There are lots
of interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope. If you don't have a telescope, now
is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

Monday, December 05, 2016

Jack is gone (NSFW)

Jack is gone. My beautiful boy will no longer slope off the Melbourne-Adelaide bus, gangly, rumpled, sleepy, and so very, very Melbourne. We will no longer drive home through the dawn, talking music, philosophy or just sitting together silently.

Because you fell in the bathroom and died. WHY DID YOU FUCKING DO THAT! HOW COULD YOU! HOW COULD YOU!

But you were always doing the unexpected weren’t you, you bastard. Peta and I were planning a hippy birth for you, with music and scented oils, but you arrived 6 weeks early and we had machines that went beep and nitrous oxide instead. We couldn’t even hold you at first, all curled up and purple in your humidicrib. It was days later that you first held my finger through the humidicrib’s porthole.

You were born with talipes, clubfoot, and the splints and plasters on your ill-formed foot made you restless in the heat of the summer night. I would push your pram through the night shrouded streets of Elwood in the early hours, as I tried to sooth you to sleep. Walking with you under those dark skies brought me back to astronomy, abandoned by the pressure of study and postdoctoral research.

Later when I showed you a lunar eclipse, for ages after you called Selene “Daddy’s Moon”. Anyone who has heard my voice on radio, or seen me on TV, should know that it was Jack that started my journey to the media with those nights walking through the dark, trying to bring sleep to him.

Jack didn’t let his club foot stop him through all the splints, casts and surgery. From a young boy taking cricket runs, his cast puffing up dust, through tennis and soccer he persevered. He indulged Peta and my love of bushwalking, although together he and I did a long day walk sharing one of my favourite places, the scenic rim at O'Reilly's. We walked through cool forests of Antarctic Beech and gazed out over panoramas to the coast doing the silent male bonding thing. YOU STILL OWE ME A BUSHWALK ON THE HEYSEN TRAIL YOU BASTARD.

We didn’t know until after he died how much his club foot bothered him, and how he searched for a sport where he and his leg could be accepted. Jack finally found his sport in fencing. Lunging and parrying, with his skinny “bung leg” encased in his bright pink fencing socks he was never happier.

Was that what happened Jack? DID YOUR TRAITOR LEG FAIL YOU THAT NIGHT and bring you crashing down? Or did electrical storms surge through your fencers heart stopping it? Or something else, hidden from the pathologists art? We may never know.

Fencing was Jack’s joy, but writing was Jack’s passion. On the epic family road trip Jack sat in the back of the campervan ignoring 3,000 kilometers of spectacular scenery, writing his novella. From quirky and absurd to dark and serious, Jack launched Tasmania into space, made Satan a warbling magpie, rhapsodised over paralympic fencing and made a persimmon tree a dark harbinger of fate. His last story published before he died was Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome. WHY THAT ONE JACK, WHY BLOODY HELL THAT ONE! I still can’t read it all the way through, I just can’t. Could you anticipate your story of unforetold death would foreshadow your own?

A young man on the threshold of new challenges, he now will be forever 19, future disappointments avoided, future achievements unrealised. But he will live on in the hearts and memories of his friends and family and in the students he mentored. He touched so many lives, not only through his writing for the student magazine Farrago, where so many Australian writers were launched, but through Farrago’s Jack Francis Musgrave award for Creative Absurdity which will honour Jack’s love of the quirky and inspire future writers.

His posthumous story "my Bung Leg and Me" to be published in Voiceworks, his first paid writing work, is a semi-autobiographical history of talipes. If this story helps even one person cope better with disability, it will be a fitting legacy. Jack had also become ambassador for wheelchair fencing, should wheelchair fencing take hold in this will extend Jack’s legacy into the future.

Jack is gone, in his place are pictures, stories and memories. Of all my memories of him this one comes to me most often; Jack and I, driving home together in companionable silence, towards the dawn, a new day, and a bright new future.